Published by: Mandira
Published date: 17 Jan 2022
Australia is the smallest continents. It is six times smaller than then Asia three times smaller than North America. It is an island therefore , it is also called Island. It has the least population. The driest and the least populated continent another name of Australia. It lies in the Southern hemisphere.The topic of Capricorn passes through. It lies between 144oE to 154oE longitudes and 10oS to 40oS latitudes.It occupies the total area of 76,82,300 sq.km. its east to west length is 3,840 km.capital cities of Australia is Canberra.it is surrounded by ocean on all sides. there lie, Timor and Arafura seas to the north the Coral sea to the north-east the pacific ocean and Tasmanian seas to the east and the Indian ocean to the south and west.New Zealand the south-east and the small island of Indonesia in the north a re the nearest neighbours of Austrailia .
Physical features
Australia can be divided into three physical regions. They are as given below:
The Eastern Highland
The Eastern Highland reason of Australia is the highest part of Australia being series of hills, Mountains and plateaus.The highland stretch for 3000km parallel to south the distinct height of the highland is 900 m from sea level.
The eastern highland is known as the great dividing ranges, further subdivided into a small range. ranges includeNew England plateaus, the Australia Alpes, the snowyMountains and the Grampian mountains.similarly, Australia's tallest snowy mountain is found in the eastern highlands. It is Mt Kosciusko, which is found in New south Wales in the Australia Alpes,Mt. Kosciuskostands at 2,228m.
The Central Lowlands
The central lowlands extend from gulf of carpenteria in the north to the encounter bay in the south.the central lowland are very dry because of rainfall blocked by the eastern highlands. The Simpsons Desert, which extends from 170,000km2 in the central lowland. The largest salt pan (lake) in Australia, lake eyre is found in the Simpson Desert. Flanders range is located about 1100 km north of Adelaide and extended for 800 km.Its tallest peak st mary peak is 1171m tall.This mountain range was created through faulting. Similarly, the central lowland can be divided into three division. The Carpentarialowland, the lake Eyre Basin and the Murry Darling Basing.
The Western Plateaus
The western plateau is the low flat area that has been eroded over a million of the year.It approximately covers two third of the continent it lies in the western parts of Austraila eventually ,the nullar or plain found in southern part of the western plateaus lies here. The western plateau is also home to many deserts. due to the cold currents of the coast this region is very dry some of the deserts includes-The GibsonTanami Canning, Great Sandy, and Grate Victoria etc.
Australia has hot and wet summer and cool and dry winter in the northern belt called the monsoon climate. The hot, wet summer and warm with little rain in winter of the south-east parts of the continents is known as the tropical climate. similarly, very hot and dry summer in the side of the western plateau is called the tropical desert climate. In the same way, there is Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summer and cold, wet winter in the south-east and west. Ther is also eastern types of climate with moderate rainfall the temperature climate in the east.
We can found various types of vegetation in Australia. Some kinds of natural vegetation of Australia are given below:
Tropical Vegetation:We can found this types of vegetation in Northeastern coast and the coast of Queensland. We can found here trees like bamboo, birch, palm and cedar etc.
Temperate Grasslands:Temperate grasslands are found in the southern belt of the tropical vegetation. It receives less rainfall so it has scanty shrubs and short trees. The grassland found in Australia are called Downs.
Tropical Grasslands/Savanna:Savanna grasslands are the largest grassland of the world. It is found in the Murray-Darling basin of the Australia. Because of huge pasture land, people engage in animal husbandry and cattle rearing.
Mediterranean Vegetation:This types of vegetation are mostly found in the southern part of the Australia. We can found trees like Eucalyptus, rubber, karri, jarrah etc.
Desert Vegetation: This is the dry vegetation found in the western plateau. Plants are found having the throne in it, like acacia, salt-bush, mallee, cactus etc.
The population of Australia is a mixed population. Aborigines migrated about 30,000 years ago from South-east Asia is now in the minority- only about 1%. Their life style is typically distinct. They have preserved their rich culture. The ‘White Australia Policy’ is no more. In the recent past people from non-European nations also came as immigrants. They have highly modernized living standard. Out of total 22.5 million Australian populations, more than 92% live in cities concentrated mainly on the coasts in the south-west and south-east, including the ones in Tasmania. In this sense, Australia is the world’s most urbanized country.
Australia has very wide semi-arid areas, ideal for live stock farms. Sheep farms are important particularly in Western Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. Several thousands of sheep are owned by a farmer, who uses motorcycles to graze the herd of sheep and the farm is so big that he uses light air-crafts to fly from one part to another. Cattle are raised in all states and territories, the semi-arid grasslands are ideal for pasturing. These livestock farms are known as ‘stations’. Australia is the largest exporter of wool. World’s 30% wool comes from here. It earns about 6% of the country’s income.
The vast majority of the land is flat, dry and hot. Only about 6% is under crop and fodder cultivation. Still the country has much surplus of agro-products. Wheat is very important. It occupies nearly half of the cultivated area. It uses modern machinery and technology so the production is very high, 70% of which is exported. Paddy is grown in the irrigated area in the south and in the north. Sugarcane is cultivated especially in the coast of Queensland. Oats, barley, maize, oil seeds, tobacco, cotton, apples, grapes, pears, etc are also grown in good quantities.
Australia is very rich in minerals. Silver, lead, copper, zinc, gold, uranium and coal are found here. Western Australia produces more than the half a number of metallic minerals. North has many good copper mines. Iron is found everywhere, much in the west. Gold is found in very high volume in the west. Australia produces one-third of the world’s uranium, which is found in the Northern Territory and South Australia. Minerals found 40% of the country’s income. Australia has all kinds of industries. Minerals, wheat, wool, meat, dairy products, machinery, etc. are its major exports.
Australia has unique plant and animal life. National Parks like the Uluru and Kakadu attract a large number of tourists. Great Barrier Reef, Sydney, Brisbane beaches, vast deserts and historic sites all allure tourists from throughout the world. The way of life of the aborigines in the interior of the country is also the matter of interest.